bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.01.27.920751; this version posted January 28, 2020. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. 1 An analysis of Species Conservation Action Plans in Guinea 2 CHARLOTTE COUCH1 · DENISE MOLMOU2 · SÉKOU MAGASSOUBA2 · SAÏDOU 3 DOUMBOUYA3 · MAMADOU DIAWARA4 · MUHAMMAD YAYA DIALLO4 · 4 SÉKOU MOUSSA KEITA5 · FALAYE KONÉ3 · MAHAMADOU CELLOU DIALLO6 · 5 SÉKOU KOUROUMA3 · MAMADOU BELLA DIALLO3 · MAMADY SAYBA 6 KEITA3 · ABOUBACAR OULARE3 · IAIN DARBYSHIRE1 · EIMEAR NIC 7 LUGHADHA1 · XANDER VAN DER BURGT1 · ISABEL LARRIDON1,7 · and 8 MARTIN CHEEK1 9 10 1 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3AE, UK. 11 2 Herbier National de Guinée, Université Gamal Abdel Nasser de Conakry, Guinea 12 3 Ministre de l’Environnement, Eaux et Forêts, République de Guinée, Conakry, Guinea 13 4 Guinée Ecologie, Dixinn, Conakry, Guinea 14 5 Centre d’Etudes de Recherche en Environnement (CERE), Université Gamal Abdel Nasser 15 de Conakry, Guinea 16 6 Protection et Gestion de l’Environnement (PEG) (Environmental NGO), Conakry, Guinea. 17 7 Ghent University, Department of Biology, Systematic and Evolutionary Botany Lab, K.L. 18 Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000 Gent, Belgium 19 20 CHARLOTTE COUCH (Corresponding Author) Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, 21 Surrey, TW9 3AE, UK. [email protected]. ORCID: 0000-0002-5707-9253 22 23 Isabel Larridon ORCID: 0000-0003-0285-722X 24 Martin Cheek ORCID: 0000-0003-4343-3124 25 1 bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.01.27.920751; this version posted January 28, 2020. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. 26 Abstract 27 To achieve conservation success, we need to support the recovery of threatened species. Yet, 28 <5% of plant species listed as threatened on the IUCN Red List have Species Conservation 29 Action Plans (CAPs). If we are to move from a Red List to a Green List for threatened plant 30 species, CAPs need to be devised and implemented. Guinea is one of the most botanically 31 diverse countries in West Africa. Recent research found that nearly 4000 vascular plants 32 occur in Guinea, a 30% increase from previous estimates. 273 of these plant species are now 33 assessed as threatened with global extinction. There is increasing pressure on the 34 environment from the extractive industry and a growing population. In parallel with 35 implementation of an Important Plant Area programme in Guinea, CAPs were developed for 36 20 threatened plant species. These plans elaborate conservation efforts needed first to 37 safeguard threatened species both in situ and ex situ and then to support their recovery. We 38 document the approach used to assemble the Species Conservation Action Plans, and we 39 discuss the importance of having up to date field information, IUCN Red List assessments, 40 and use of a collaborative approach. The need for these plans is increasingly important with 41 recent calculations suggesting a third of African plants are threatened with extinction. This 42 paper outlines initial detailed plant conservation planning in Guinea and offers a template for 43 conservation practitioners in other tropical African countries to follow. 44 45 Key words: Important Plant Areas, IUCN Red List, Species Conservation Action Plans, 46 Guinea, threatened species. 2 bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.01.27.920751; this version posted January 28, 2020. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. 47 Introduction 48 The goal of conservationists is to protect globally threatened species and achieve success 49 through species recovery, eventually recording this on the Green List (Akcakaya et al. 2018). 50 Yet, of the 15,774 threatened plant species treated on the global Red List, only 753 (4.78 %) 51 are reported to have Species Conservation Action Plans (CAPs) in place (IUCN 2019). To 52 help address this massive deficit, we offer an approach to developing CAPs for threatened 53 plant species which has succeeded in Guinea (West Africa), as a template for conservation 54 practitioners in other Tropical African countries. 55 Guinea is one of the most botanically diverse countries in West Africa. It has nearly 56 4000 vascular plant species (G. Gosline et al. unpubl. data), a significant increase from the c. 57 3000 listed in the Flore (Angiospermes) de la République de Guinée by Lisowski (2009). 58 This increase reflects an extensive searches over the last five years to inventory the flora of 59 Guinea through the digitisation and georeferencing of historical herbarium records 60 (Magassouba et al. 2014, GBIF 2019) complemented by targeted field expeditions to 61 understudied areas of Guinea by the National Herbarium of Guinea (HNG) and the Royal 62 Botanic Gardens, Kew (RBGK) (Cheek et al. 2018a). As a result of efforts to find additional 63 localities for rare species, we determined at least one likely extinction (Inversodicraea 64 pygmaea G.Taylor) due to a hydroelectric dam (Cheek 2018c). A total of 74 published 65 endemic species have been recorded for Guinea, all of which are threatened (G. Gosline et al. 66 unpubl. data, Rokni 2017, 2018, Larridon 2018). Recent estimates of endemism for Guinea 67 ranged from 2.6% (Lisowski, based on a species list) to 4.7% (Sosef et al. 2017 inferred from 68 the RAINBIO dataset. The number of endemic species is set to increase with recent 69 discoveries; several descriptions of new species to science are in progress. The comparatively 70 high plant diversity in Guinea is in part due to the highland areas found in the central and 71 eastern parts of the country. The central Fouta Djallon highlands have many endemic plant 3 bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.01.27.920751; this version posted January 28, 2020. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. 72 species found in a variety of habitats such as sandstone cliffs, sandstone and lateritic bowal 73 (treeless hardpan), and submontane forest (Couch et al. 2019a). However, over past centuries 74 this area has undergone a dramatic change with the expansion of cattle ranging and 75 development of agricultural systems. The submontane forest has become extremely degraded 76 and intact submontane forest has practically disappeared over all of the Fouta Djallon. A 77 recent three year project to identify Tropical Important Plant Areas in Guinea (Couch et al. 78 2019a) showed that of 35 threatened species not seen for 60 years or more, and not 79 rediscovered during the project, 25 are globally endemic to Guinea and the majority occur in 80 the Fouta Djallon. The Fouta Djallon historically shared some species with the mountain 81 chains of Simandou and Nimba in eastern Guinea, such as Habenaria jaegeri Summerh. and 82 Kotschya lutea (Portères) Hepper. Both species are likely to be locally extinct in the Fouta 83 Djallon, as they have not been seen despite targeted searches there for 57 and 82 years 84 respectively. 85 The Tropical Important Plant Areas (TIPAs) of Guinea project recently identified nine 86 threatened habitats and 22 TIPAs (Couch et al. 2019a, Couch et al, 2017). TIPAs are assessed 87 using three criteria: the presence of (1) Threatened species, (2) Botanical richness (including 88 socio-economic species), and (3) Threatened habitats (Darbyshire et al. 2017). Each TIPA 89 assessment also documents past, present and future threats as well as the current protection 90 given to the proposed TIPA site. A variety of threats imperil the flora of Guinea, not least 91 from the mining sector. Guinea is one of the leading exporters of bauxite, producing 95% of 92 African bauxite and 15% of the global share, based on tonnes exported (Alcircle, 2018). It 93 also has considerable reserves of iron ore, gold and diamonds, with smaller reserves of other 94 minerals including nickel, copper, cobalt, manganese and uranium (Guinean Ministry of 95 Mines and Geology, 2016). However, for many of the habitats, in particular the lowland 96 evergreen forest and submontane forest (including gallery forest), the main threats are the 4 bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.01.27.920751; this version posted January 28, 2020. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. 97 unsustainable slash and burn agricultural practices and the cutting of wood for charcoal. A 98 study by Sayer et al. (1992) documented that 96% of original forest had already disappeared 99 from Guinea. In the bowal areas, the main threats are from cattle-ranging and linked 100 management practices causing increases in fire frequency, and from housing development. 101 New large-scale projects, for example in the mining sector and for hydroelectric 102 power, require companies to carry out detailed Social and Environmental Impact 103 Assessments (SEIAs). These studies should highlight threatened plant species in their 104 concessions.